The GIFT Foundation of Hawaii’s mission is to encourage young adults to participate in philanthropic giving.

Each year the GIFT Foundation of Hawaii selects several local non-profit organizations or programs to benefit from funds raised through our annual fundraising event.

GIFT Foundation 2018 Beneficiaries

Family Promise of Hawaii has helped over 2,000 parents and children transition out of homelessness since 2006. Its mission is to mobilize existing community resources to aid families with children experiencing homelessness and help them transition to sustainable independence.

The organization will use its 2018 GIFT Foundation grant to build a new Emergency Shelter in the Wahiawa/Central Oahu area, where there currently are no resources. It will be the third Family Promise Emergency Shelter on Oahu, and provide laundry facilities, mail, showers, telephone, computer and internet access, daily meals, life skills training, employment assistance and weekly case management.

Family Promise of Hawaii serves one of Oahu’s most vulnerable populations: homeless families with children. The project will impact 24 families (85 individuals) in its first year, with a comprehensive approach that ensures a high success rate: in 2017, 85% of Family Promise’s Emergency Shelter guests were able to secure permanent housing and 100% maintained or secured employment while in the program.

Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii coordinates large scale coastal cleanups, educational programs, public awareness campaigns and facilitate other interested groups to run their own cleanups. Since its inception in 2011, SCH has brought together 21,688 volunteers to remove 349,738 pounds of debris from Hawaii’s coastlines and educated over 19,000 students about plastic pollution and coastal stewardship.

The organization will use its 2018 GIFT Foundation grant to retrofit its existing Education Station. Beach plastic collected during cleanups will be cleaned, chipped, extruded, and pelletized. Once pelletized, it can be heated in molds to create products imagined by Hawaii’s Keiki, such as sunglass frames, iPhone cases, and 3D printed-projects.

The project’s impact will be cleaner beaches, reduced burden on landfills and incinerators, and a replicable solution created in Hawaii that can be utilized elsewhere for the benefit the whole world. By integrating our youth into this process, Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii will open minds, develop new ideas, and foster an entrepreneurial and empowered youth.

Every day in Hawaiʻi, keiki are being sexually exploited for money. Hoʻōla Nā Pua has four key program areas: Health, Education, Advocacy, and Reintegration, focusing on the systematic change to prevent exploitation before it begins. Through its education and outreach programs, Hoʻōla Nā Pua offers expertise in the issue of prevention of sexual exploitation, identification of victims, and response to sex trafficking and sexual exploitation.

The organization will use its 2018 GIFT Foundation grant to create a suite of guided digital education. This Core Curriculum digital suite will be an accredited set of tools that will help educate our children. These tools will be grade, age, development and Hawaiʻi specific.

The project’s impact will double Hoʻōla Nā Pua’s current reach of 2,500 students each year through prevention education. It will help our most vulnerable population – our keiki – recognize the signs and understand the dangers of sex trafficking.